AUSTIN, Texas — If you’ve only lived in Austin for the last 15 years or so, the word "Mueller" probably reminds you of the Mueller development.
But not so long ago, where those homes and businesses are today, there were once empty fields crisscrossed by runways. They made up Austin’s original airport, Mueller Airport. It was named after Robert Mueller – who pronounced his name "Miller" – who served on the Austin City Council in the 1920s.
After opening in the 1930s, the Mueller Airport expanded with the construction of its iconic blue-and-white porcelain tower and new terminal in 1961. Now, the tower is the only remnant of the former airport that stands unused at the Mueller development.
As late as the 1990s, it was still pretty easy for anyone to stroll up to the arrival and departure gates at the old airport with minimal screening. Parking was fairly close and it cost $6 a day.
RELATED:
Anyone who drove Interstate 35 near the airport will remember watching jetliners land at what seemed only a few feet above the highway. The joke at the time was that drivers could wave at the airplane passengers and the passengers would wave back!
But nearly 70 years after it opened, the end was near. Surrounded by neighborhoods, Mueller had no place to grow. The decision was made to shut it down and make the former Bergstrom Air Force Base Austin’s new airport.
On May 22, 1999, the last night of Mueller Airport, dignitaries boarded a jetliner, lifting off from Mueller and landing at the new Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The trip only took a few minutes.
It took a bit longer for the procession of baggage carts and airport equipment to go from Mueller to AUS on that last day. A mile-long caravan at five miles per hour moved the runway equipment to its home at the new airport. And with that pre-dawn parade, Mueller Airport faded into history.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: